Born in Ellaville, Ga., Ben Hamilton served his country in the Air Force from 1963 to 1967 as an airman second class. But Airman Hamilton almost never made it to his current age of 77 as he almost suffered a tragic accident at the age of 3. We were visiting relatives in Tampa, Fla., and I fell three stories out of a window. I m still here, he said laughing. He enlisted with a friend in Springfield through the Buddy Program, which allows small groups to enlist and train together, at 19 and was sent to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Bexar County, Texas.